66: Gilmour Space's Adam Gilmour – The Industry of Space, Insto Interest and Chinese spies

[i3] Institutional Investment Podcast

Adam Gilmour is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Australian rocket company Gilmour Space. His business is backed by some of the largest institutional investors in Australia, including Hostplus, HESTA and NGS Super, as well as several venture capital firms. In this interview, we talk about the business of rocket launches, space cargo, interest from institutional investors and Chinese spies. Enjoy the show and don't forget to subscribe through your favourite platform. Overview of podcast with Adam Gilmour, CEO of Gilmour Space 1:00 Starting as a derivative trader 3:30 Where do you start launching rockets? ‘You start small” 6:00 We are the Fedex of space 7:30 We started the company to take people into space 8:00 I fully intent to go to space in one of my vehicles 8:45 Pension funds backing Gilmour Space 10:00 There is an element of nation building in Australian super funds 11:30 Challenges of being an Australian-based space company 13:00 We estimate that the industry for launching small satellites into space will grow to $5bn by 2025 14:30 Impact of the pandemic: supply chain issues 16:30 How do you build a rocket. 17:30 How Gilmour Space become the object of Chinese spies 19:30 Putting people on Mars is unrealistic in the short term and inevitable in the long term. 22:00 If you are going to shoot things into space, the moon is a good place to do it 23:00 Favourite science fiction book: Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game 25:00 Getting to space in the next 12 months